Daybreak
by Kathryn Claire O'Connor
Summary: After an argument with his wife, Jefferson takes a day-long break from his life in a land called Oz, where he meets and is instantly drawn to a troubled redhead named Zelena. *part 1 of the "Common Ground" series, prequel to "Common Ground." pre-series two-shot*
1. Chapter 1

**This is a _prequel_ to "Common Ground" because the plot fairies decided to go and turn the nice, pretty, fluffy little plot bunny that is "Common Ground" into a plot _monster _that has resulted in a five-part series. Therefore, I am now working on the "Common Ground series." And, yes, I am aware that there's really no discernible connection between this and "Common Ground," but there will be, as both of those stories are now just part of a bigger picture/story arc! So humor me, hang in there, and read on! Oh, and don't forget to drop me a review please, telling me how you think I wrote these characters, since it's my first time writing for any of them and I'd really appreciate the feedback! And I have a poll up that I'd appreciate your votes on! Thanks! Enjoy!:) **

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><p>Jefferson had long found that being capable of traveling through realms was not always all that it was cracked up to be – convenient, yes, but not as glamorous as people often thought. He got lost in unfamiliar worlds more often then he wanted to admit, and a lot of the realms that he'd visited… he just didn't like. But this one – Oz – was new to him. It was sort of a… quirky place – strange in a sometimes-pleasant way – and he liked what he'd seen of it so far. He hadn't seen much of it, though, he mused, distracted by the wares that surrounded him on every side as he wandered through an outdoor market.<p>

Then he was shocked out of his own head by a whirl of red and green plowing into his chest and nearly knocking them both to the ground. One hand instinctively reached instinctively towards the beam of a booth, and his other hand gripped the shoulder of his assailant to steady… her. Really seeing who'd ran into him for the first time… well, once again, Jefferson liked what he saw.

Until he noticed that those pretty blue eyes were crying.

Alarmed, he asked quickly, "Are you hurt?"

Swallowing back tears and trembling underneath the hand Jefferson still had on her shoulder, she shook her head fiercely. Yet, something was still obviously wrong.

Jefferson asked carefully, "Is there something I can do? Do you need help?"

"Not from you."

Because of her tears, the words didn't come out nearly as sharp as she'd obviously meant them to, and Jefferson was undeterred, asking, "Are you on your way somewhere, then?"

The redhead glared at him, but she still only managed to look something like a spiteful puppy despite her best efforts as she said, "Something like that."

"Perhaps I could help you, then;" Jefferson said, giving an exaggerated bow. "I am a bit of an expert on long-distance travelling."

"I know my way perfectly well, thank you. I only have to follow this main road for a day."

"Then perhaps _you _could be of service to _me_," Jefferson suggested. "I'm looking for a… tour guide. Would you allow me to walk your trail with you?"

He knew he was being an unwelcome annoyance but there was just _something _about her – an instinct of sorts – that made him want to go with her and get to know her. She intrigued him. What's more, the longer he spoke to her, the less she seemed inclined to cry. On the heels of that thought came the realization that he wanted to see her smile – how horrible was that? – and all of this combined to make him determined to become her traveling companion.

"And what if I say 'no'?" she inquired, her tone slowly starting to lose its acid even as she rolled her eyes.

"Then I'll be hard-pressed to remain a gentleman and not trail behind you anyway," Jefferson grinned cheekily.

That drew forth a deep sigh of resignation from her and another eye roll as she started walking, throwing over her shoulder, "Come on then; I won't slow down for you."

Triumphant, Jefferson's smile widened as he jogged the couple of steps it took to get to her side and declared, "I'm Jefferson."

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, chin at a stubborn, disagreeable angle as she responded, "Zelena."

"Well, Zelena, if you don't mind my saying so, you look like you've been having a bad day."

"If you don't mind my saying so," she bit out, glancing pointedly at his left ring finger, "You look like a bad choice for a young lady to traipse out of town with."

Jefferson bit back a sigh and shoved his hand into his coat pocket, muttering, "You noticed that, did you? Well, you don't have anything to fear from me."

Zelena scanned over his entire person out of the corner of her eye, observing aloud, "You're not from Oz, yet you're here. You're married, yet your wife hasn't accompanied you. Either you're widowed, leaving her, or in the after-effects of a particularly bad argument."

"Just the latter," Jefferson admitted, for some reason trusting this somehow-familiar stranger with his secrets. "I have… an asset that allows me to travel through realms, and my wife wants to use it. I told her 'no' – again – she got angry, so I left to let her calm down. Most likely I'll go back to her once you and I finish our 'traipse.'"

"Where does she want to go?"

"Wonderland," Jefferson drawled with distaste. "She says it's absolutely _wonderful_."

"It isn't?" Zelena inquired curiously.

"Not at all, in my opinion. I hate Wonderland."

His ferocity on the subject appeared unprecedented and he knew it but she was quick to guess the reason behind it – and accurately so. "You think she's found a lover to travel to?"

"Maybe," Jefferson allowed, though it was obvious that neither one of them knew why exactly they were comfortable being so frank with one another – it was just… happening. "So there's my secret; I'm running from my family problems. What about you?"

The way she looked at him – a quick glance at his face combined with the slightest of blushes – said it all.

"You too, huh?" he asked lightly, daring to knock his shoulder softly against hers.

Surprised and momentarily unbalanced, Zelena was quick to right herself, obviously trying her best not to grin at his shenanigans – and failing gloriously. "Yes, me too."

"See, Zelena," he said, encouraged by her smile and feeling brassy as he went so far as to intertwine his arm with hers while they walked. "Maybe this meeting was just meant to be."

"Maybe so," the redhead said shyly, and was it his imagination or did her hand tighten its grip on his arm?

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><p>The idea had been for Zelena to point out the lay of the land to him as they travelled, but that never actually happened. Instead, they talked. She talked about her plans, about the revelation that she'd been adopted, about her adopted father's prejudice against her, and about her own magic. In turn, he explained his magic and his struggling marriage, and gushed over his newborn daughter, Grace,<p>

By the time night fell, they weren't holding anything back if it came to their minds. They were asking questions and answering them, laughing and crying. There were glances exchanged, both shy and sly; their arms stayed intertwined, and then they were holding hands, her head resting comfortably against his shoulder as they strolled in the moonlight.


	2. Chapter 2

Looking ahead of them on the road to see an impressive structure emerging from the darkness, he murmured, loathe to break the silent, calm contentment that had settled between them, "That's it, isn't it? The wizard's home?"

Zelena nodded against his shoulder, her red hair brighter and more attention-grabbing than ever in the darkness as she sighed, both of them realizing that their day-long break from reality would soon be coming to an end. Then she spoke, looking at him with something like pleading in her beautiful eyes as she said something that was so wrong it was right. "We could set up a camp for the night… It's late and I'd rather rest before going to meet… well, my new future."

That was an excuse, and they both knew it. She was after much more than a night's sleep, but, god help him, he wanted it too, and so he only nodded. Her fingers tightened around his hand as she led him off of the path, stumbling together into the woods a little way until they found a clearing large enough for the two of them to lie down in.

The ground was cold, and the space small, so he took her into his arms, noting that there were once again tears in her eyes. This time, he immediately knew why; she was doing the same thing he was – grieving for what had to happen in the morning.

And that's when he realized the beautiful, awful, breathtaking truth – in less than twenty-four hours, they had fallen in love. Heck, on his end, it may have even been love at first sight!

He released a painfully shaky breath and pressed a kiss to her forehead, gently suggesting what he already knew was impossible. "I could be your new future."

"No," she reminded him brokenly. "You can't. I have plans, and you… Jefferson, you have Grace and Annie."

At the second name, Jefferson couldn't help the growl that tore from his throat. Annie – his wife; someone who didn't belong in this moment at all. He started to object, hating how many emotions were packed into the one word that he managed to get out before Zelena interrupted him: "But-"

Zelena placed a cool hand on his cheek, assuring him in a whisper, "But it'll be alright. If you love someone, you let them go, right? If it's meant to be, we'll meet again… but for now at least we have tonight."

She kissed him then, hesitant and afraid, both of them left emotionally drained from this rollercoaster of a day. He deepened the kiss, reassuring her that this – what they wanted tonight to be – was okay by him, Annie or no, and pulled her flush against him – not letting himself dream of anything beyond tonight, not allowing his mind to go anywhere but what was happening right then.

Because they only had tonight…

And despite the secret hope that had still been tucked away in the corner of his mind, when he awoke the next morning, she was already gone.

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><p>He returned to the Enchanted Forest something of a changed man, even more solemn then he'd been when he'd left, having been in such a hurry to get away from Annie. But he hadn't expected what he'd returned home to. He hadn't expected to find Grace with the neighbors. He hadn't expected to find a note in his house from Annie declaring that she'd left – left him <em>and Grace <em>– in her determination to find a way to get to Wonderland.

But that's what he'd found.

Zelena was gone. Annie had disappeared. As of the evening before, he'd been pulled in two directions, toward two different women, for two entirely different reasons – loyalty to his daughter, and love for a stranger – and now he had neither of them.

It was just him and little Grace now.

Setting his daughter gently in her cradle, he took off his hat and threw it violently across the room, a million thoughts running through his head. Why had he left? If he hadn't gone, Annie might very well have stayed. Sure, he wouldn't be any happier than before, but things wouldn't be any worse off, either. Because of his leaving – because of his hat, his _work _– Grace had lost her mother.

Because of that, he was done with his travels. He was hanging up his hat.

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><p>Zelena.<p>

Zelena, Zelena! _Zelena_.

Jefferson had heard that name so many times since they'd all been magicked back to the Enchanted Forest, and later returned Storybrooke. But the context in which he'd heard it…! The broken young woman had become a ruthless villain – apparently very soon after they had met – and even now – once the whole town was made aware that she had been defeated and imprisoned – he was having a hard time accepting that fact.

Ever since he'd first heard her name again, even after so many years, he'd desperately wanted to go to her; if only he could see her, then he was sure that he could get her to turn her life around, once again become the woman he'd met instead of whatever she was now. Only knowing that Grace needed him – and quite possibly his protection from Zelena, much as he hated to admit it – had kept him from doing just that.

Until now, the morning after her capture.

When he'd heard last night that she had been subdued, he'd found himself more determined than ever before to see her again, so he'd slipped away at daybreak, before Grace even woke, going straight to the sheriff's office and hoping beyond hope that he could talk some sense into the woman that he still loved. But when he actually reached the room where he knew she was being kept, he found… nothing.

Just like when he'd gone back to the Enchanted Forest after meeting her in Oz, he'd expected to walk in to find a woman staring back at him. But there was nothing – not even a trace, a sign that she had even been here at all. Just like Annie had in the past, Zelena had slipped through his fingers.

And if he looked particularly upset for – according to her – no real reason when Grace came into the kitchen later that morning to see him making scrambled eggs like he did every Tuesday, then his daughter never said anything to him, just gave him an extra-long hug when he dropped her off at the bus stop. And if, on Wednesday, she came home to the sound of him sobbing his heart out after reading in the paper that Zelena had committed suicide the day she was captured, then she never really brought that up either. She just whispered in his ear before she went to bed that night that she loved him – that she was always going to be there for him, always going to be his girl, and never going to let him be lonely ever again.

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><p><strong>Okay, <em>so<em>, this story is over, "Common Ground" is it's sequel, and I'm working on the plans for the third story in the series. For right now, it has the working title of "Between Us," and is - hopefully - where "Daybreak" and "Common Ground" start to tie into each other a little bit. Reviews are my new best friend and would make my day! Thanks!:)**


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